The Medical Education for Dedicated Students (MEDS) club dropped off 108 toys and raised $375 in gift cards for the Dallas Children’s Medical Center. Junior MEDS Club officer Seher Hasan, and sophomore Harsh Singh took the toys to the hospital on March 15.
The toy drive was initially hosted from Jan. 26 to Feb. 4. Due to inclement weather, the toy drive was extended to Feb. 8.
Students donated gently used toys such as stuffed animals, books, and games. They also donated $5 gift cards.
The different types of toys that were collected are going to be distributed to the kids by their ages.
“From what we’re thinking they’ll probably give the books and games to kids that are probably 10 or like, maybe eight to 12 and then the stuffed animals to young children,” Hasan said.
Along with the toys, the gift cards will be used to purchase items from the medical centers’ Amazon wish list.
“There’s also infant care items that we can find, so it’s really benefiting kids of all ages,” Singh said.
Hasan said that she believes MEDS club greatly impacted these children’s lives.
“When we were putting the toys in the bins, one of the people there kept on thanking us over and over again,” Hasan said.
The hospital staff was grateful for their donations and how much it would mean to the children.
“They probably have thousands and thousands of patients,” Hasan said. “He was like, “Even if this is a small thing, you don’t know what a big impact you’ve made on these children.’”
The MEDS club officers hope to expand their toy drive in the future.
“It would be a good idea to expand to other hospitals, and maybe even extend that to other schools, who also have similar medical programs at their schools,” Singh said.
